Puppy Daze
by Luna Silvereyes
Summary: This story was requested by the readers of The First Legacy. Izayoi experiences InuYasha's childhood, with the joys, proud moments-and PLENTY OF MISHAPS.
1. InuYasha and His Name

Puppy Daze

Luna Silvereyes

A/N: This was requested by several people in response to The First Legacy. I decided that I'd give it a try, inspired by my two nieces and my nephew. I give you the drabble, InuYasha's Puppy Daze.

Name

"No!" Izayoi yelled as she came into the room and found the one month-old InuYasha sitting on the floor, scratching marks into the wooden wall. He turned around, tilted his head and made a little sound like a curious puppy-dog. Izayoi covered her eyes and shook her head. " InuYasha." She groaned. " Not again. This is the third time this month you've done this. Just look!"

She gestured to the other walls that hadn't been painted over. InuYasha followed his mother's finger and looked back at her. " Name!" he cried clumsily, smiling broadly. Izayoi's face fell. He was attempting to write his name. Instead, the walls now read things that she couldn't imagine were letters or any form of any language. She wondered if, being the mother of a half-demon, she was supposed to find this sort of behavior cute. InuYasha continued to stare up at her with the biggest eyes she'd ever seen.

" Very well, InuYasha—" she said, snatching his hand as he started to turn and resume vandalizing the walls. " I will give you some paper and ink. You can practice writing your name on that."

" Name! Name! Name!"

Izayoi fetched some paper from the table and gave him some berries to crush to make ink. She sat him down at the table and ruffled his hair. " Be a good boy and write your name." She said.

" Name!"

InuYasha immediately fisted all seven berries.

_**Squish!!!**_

Izayoi winced as she heard the inevitable squishing of the berries, sending juice flying all over the table and staining his snowy hair, but she sighed and reassured herself that it was washable.

" I'll return in a minute, InuYasha." She said exasperatedly.

" Name!" she heard him laughing behind her.

When she came back a few minutes later, her eyes went wide when she saw him chewing on what remained of the paper, berry juice all over his face, hands, hair and the table as he ponderously chewed on the paper. A large piece of it hung from his mouth and he grinned when he saw her, the piece fluttering down.

" Name!" he exclaimed. He pointed at the table. Izayoi forced herself to look.

_Innoowasha. _

Izayoi couldn't help but smile, even as she hugged her son and gazed sadly around at her ruined home. " Very nice, dear." She said. " Very nice."


	2. InuYasha and The Walnuts

Walnut

Izayoi was sitting outside, working on a knitting pattern and humming to herself, remembering how a knitting pattern eventually led to her beloved son. She forced herself not to become nostalgic.

" Mommy!"

Izayoi turned around as InuYasha came running up, giggling profusely in a somewhat muffled tone. He was practically gasping for breath as he ran and came to a stop in front of her, laughing his head off. " Mommy, look what I did!" he exclaimed, tapping his nose. Izayoi's eyes widened when she saw that his nose had grown quite bulky.

" InuYasha, what happened to your nose?" she asked cautiously.

" I found these walnuts in the woods and I saw a boar while I was adventuring." He babbled in a nasally voice. " I wanted a big nose like the boar, so I made mine bigger!"

Izayoi clapped a hand over her eyes in frustration. Her son had jammed two walnuts up his nose in an attempt to look like a forest boar. All it did was make him look deformed.

" InuYasha." She moaned. " Why?"

" Why what?"

She sighed and clasped her hand over his shoulder. " Nothing, InuYasha. Come on, lets' get those nuts out of your nose before you suffocate."

Later, Izayoi returned to her knitting, glad to have finally managed to pry the nuts from InuYasha's nose. InuYasha asked to keep the walnuts as a memento, on the promise that he wouldn't stick them up his nose again.

" InuTaisho, if you could see him now." She muttered with amusement.

She jumped suddenly when she heard a loud bang right next to her and what sounded like fake roaring. She turned and shook her head bemusedly when she saw InuYasha stomping around the room with his arms in the air, two eggs tied around his face and covering his eyes and a whole bunch of wooden nails hanging from his mouth to form teeth. " Rarrrrr!" he growled. " Rarrrrr!"

" What are you supposed to be?" she asked with a smile.

" Imma hiroshous ronster!!" he babbled. The nails mangled his words as he attempted to speak. Izayoi laughed at this and sighed. " Please don't eat me, ferocious monster." She said. InuYasha stopped and looked in her direction. He spit the nails out all over the floor. " I wouldn't eat you mommy." He said with the eggs still tied to his head. " I was only joking."

" So you were." Izayoi said. As he ran off to cause more mischief and mayhem, she returned to her knitting with a pleasant sigh.


	3. InuYasha and The Slug

InuYasha and The Slug

The day following the disaster with the walnuts, which had mysteriously disappeared from InuYasha's bedroom without a trace, Izayoi took her son for a walk in the woods. InuYasha loved to run through the trees rapidly and look at all the different plants that decorated the woodland. His favorite activity, however, was sniffing. He'd get down on the ground, shoving his nose into the dirt and pawing around like a stray dog, snuffling dirt from his nose as he did. Izayoi smiled as she watched him, amused by his very odd behavior. InuYasha never failed to surprise her.

So when she found him several minutes later hunkered on the ground, his back to her, she grew curious. " Dear, what are you doing?" she asked. InuYasha froze and slowly turned halfway around before whipping back to his original position. " Nuffing." He said. He had something in his mouth.

" Spit it out, InuYasha." Izayoi said firmly. InuYasha got up and folded his arms behind his back, staring at the ground guiltily. " Mm-mm." He said with a shake of his head. Izayoi repeated her hand gesture. " Now. Give it to me." She said. He turned away stubbornly. Izayoi rolled her eyes. " InuYasha, give me whatever that is. I mean it."

InuYasha gave her the most mournful look and came back over. He hesitated and then let the object fall from his mouth onto her hand. Izayoi recoiled in disgust. " Kami!" she exclaimed. " InuYasha!" she screeched, whirling to face him. " Did you seriously try to eat a slug!?"

He shrugged. " It seemed like the right thing to do, mommy. It looked like a lemon."

" InuYasha."

" I like lemons." InuYasha said sullenly, scraping the ground with his foot. Izayoi cringed at the slug and waved it quickly from her hand. " Ugh." She said. She sighed. " InuYasha, you don't eat slugs." She said, wondering how many mothers got to explain this to their children. Not many, she assumed.

" Why?" he asked.

" You just don't." she replied, starting back toward the village.

" Why?"

" Because they're slimy." She said.

" Why?"

" Because…it makes them look unappealing." Izayoi said with a frown.

" Why?"

" So…so other animals don't eat them."

" Why?"

" InuYasha," she said at last. " Lets' just go home."


	4. InuYasha and The Stars

InuYasha and The Stars

Izayoi awoke late one night to realize that InuYasha wasn't curled up in a ball beside her like he'd done since he was a baby. Concerned, she sat up and looked around. " InuYasha?" she whispered to the darkness. She flipped the cover away and got up, wrapping herself in the blanket as she made her way to the door. She opened it cautiously and peered outside. Instantly, she calmed. She could see his tiny form sitting on a small pile of stones several feet away. He was gazing up at the sky. He turned around as she approached. " Hi mommy. Sorry I woke you." He said.

" It's all right, dear. What are you doing?" she asked.

" Looking at the stars." InuYasha replied. " Mommy, what makes the stars shine?"

Izayoi felt saddened that she was unable to answer his question. " I don't know, InuYasha. The stars shine because they're beautiful, I guess."

InuYasha titled his head. " Then why don't you shine?" he asked. This stunned Izayoi, but she smiled. " Because I'm not a star, InuYasha." She said gently.

" But you're beautiful, Mommy." InuYasha said. " I know it. You should shine, too."

Izayoi was surprised to hear him talking so profoundly, but she said nothing. " Dear, it's late. Do you want to go back to sleep?"

" Mm-mm. I'll watch the stars a little bit longer." InuYasha said, hugging his knees and smiling at the sky. Izayoi nodded. " Not too long." She said.

" M'kay." InuYasha said as she went back inside.

_What a special little boy I have_, she thought.


	5. InuYasha and The Eggs

InuYasha and The Eggs

Izayoi was making breakfast for the two of them. While stewing wild mushrooms, she decided to add some eggs to the mixture so she got up and went around to the back. Some of the kinder neighbors had given her a chicken coop and she often fetched eggs for them. As she approached the coop, she stopped short when she saw InuYasha on the ground. But it wasn't that he was there that horrified her. It was what he was doing.

He was sitting in the middle of a huge pile of cracked open eggs, gingerly opening one and looking into the yolk and then dumping it over his shoulder to snag another one.

" InuYasha!" Izayoi cried. " What did you do?"

" Hi, mommy!" InuYasha said cheerfully as he smashed another egg. " I noticed a fox got into our pen last night and I knew you'd be sad to see some of our chickens are gone. So I decided to open these eggs and get some baby chickens for you."

He sighed unhappily. " I haven't finded any yet, though." He said. Izayoi was too irritated to correct his bad grammar. She sighed. " InuYasha, you can't find baby chickens in the eggs like that." She said exasperatedly.

" Why not?"

" Because they need time to grow inside the eggs. Those are—were—freshly laid eggs. They won't have anything but yolk inside them, yet. Are there any left?"

" Mm-mm. I squished the last one by accident." He said. Izayoi sighed again. " Come. Lets' get you cleaned up and then we'll eat breakfast." She said.

She wasn't looking forward to bland mushrooms again.


	6. InuYasha and The Visitor

A/N: Sorry it took so long. I was rather busy with tests and junk. But here it is! Enjoy. 

InuYasha and the Visitor

There was a knock at the door and before Izayoi could stop him, InuYasha tore the door open and with a miniature snarl, leapt outside onto the man standing out there with a package in his hands. Izayoi ran to the door in time to see InuYasha rip the package out of his grasp and tear it to shreds on the ground. Then, he latched his teeth onto the man's arm as he flailed around, trying to dislodge the demonic pup. 

" Let go! Let go! Let go!" he screamed frantically. InuYasha continued to growl and hung onto the man's arm, his little eyes crossed with the concentration of locking his teeth in place. If it weren't such a serious situation, it would almost be comical. Izayoi rushed forward and grabbed her son by one arm, yanking him loose and glaring at him. He grinned sheepishly. She sighed in exasperation. 

" I'm terribly so—" she started to say, but she looked up to see the man disappear into the trees. She blinked in surprise and then turned to InuYasha. 

" What on earth was that for?" she demanded. 

" I thought he was trying to break in!" InuYasha said. " I was gonna eat him!" 

" InuYasha, that was our kindly neighbor, one of few in this region. Thanks to your little episode, we've probably lost all contact with them, now." 

As she turned away, she heard him sniffing around. " What are you doing?" she asked. He was snuffling at the package. " Mommy?" he said. " Why does this thing smell like horse poop?" 

Izayoi rolled her eyes. 


	7. InuYasha and The Weasel

A/N: The ideas are coming more quickly now

A/N: The ideas are coming more quickly now! Hurray!! I love writing this story. It's so cute. 

InuYasha and the Weasel

Izayoi was busy sweeping the front porch when she heard a shrill scream from the trees. Stunned, she looked up in time to see a red blur dart from the forest and start galloping around the yard like a horse in the middle of breaking. 

" InuYasha, what on earth—" she started to say. But when she saw why he was running and screaming, she dropped the horsetail broom and screamed herself, hurriedly backing away from her son as he ran over. There was a large weasel firmly attached to the seat of his pants, snarling and growling as it hung on, the rest of its body completely limp and flopping around like a doll. InuYasha was bouncing around, yelping and wailing, trying to dislodge his unwanted passenger. Izayoi didn't know at first what to do. But after a few seconds, she leaned down and picked up the broom, waiting for InuYasha to come within striking distance. She raised it up as he made another round toward her and swung down. She missed both of them, but her mere attempt seemed to infuriate the weasel and InuYasha started to jump up and down wildly, trying vainly to grab at the irritated weasel. Izayoi cringed and raised the broom again. She brought it down hard and felt it strike the skull of the riled rodent. Instantly, it dropped its hold on InuYasha's behind and fell to the ground. It lay there stunned for a moment before stumbling to its feet and glaring at Izayoi. With a hiss that sounded like a territorial cat, it turned and bounded off into the woods. Izayoi sighed in relief and turned to InuYasha who was standing and rubbing his bottom painfully. 

" Ouchie." He mumbled. He looked up at his mother sadly. " Aw, mom, why'd you have to kill it?" he pouted. 

" InuYasha, what was I supposed to do? And I didn't kill it, it ran off." Izayoi pointed out. InuYasha folded his arms and sulked. " Humph. Thanks, mom. Now he'll probably never want to play with me again." 

Izayoi didn't say a word. 

A/N: Only InuYasha, huh? Hehe. This was a funny chapter to write. 


	8. InuYasha and The Mud

InuYasha and The Mud

A'N: Whew, sorry about the delay. Here's a new chapter.

InuYasha and The Mud

Izayoi had just finished mending InuYasha's clothes after the mishap with the weasel the day before. She'd sent him outside to play in some of his older clothes and prayed that he'd stay out of trouble. She paused in her work and sighed. "Dear, why'd you have to leave me without even telling me what a handful he was going to be? Surely you must have known."

She looked toward the window at the sound of the neighbor's pig herd squealing. Curious, she set her work down and got up, making her way over to the window. She peered out.

"Ah!" she cried.

Their neighbor was outside trying to corral his pigs, which were running all over creation in a panic. Inside the battered and torn corral, the one remaining sow stared at something splashing mud all over the place and laughing out loud. Izayoi sank from view, silently praying for strength—again.

Five minutes later, she rushed outside, screaming InuYasha's name. The little mud-ball sat up, watching her amiably. "Hi mommy!" he called. He was covered in mud from head to toe. Even his hair was matted with the filthy stuff. The pig herder glowered at her. "That thing belongs to you, ma'am?" he snapped, pointing a gnarled finger at her son who was busy splashing mud at the sow. Izayoi managed a weak smile. "Yes. I apologize. I'll have him help you repair the fence. I'll take him."

She hesitated briefly at the mud, but gritted her teeth, gulped and started in, grasping her muddy boy in one hand and then dragging them both out. She sighed and bowed respectfully. "I'll send him over later when he's clean." She said. She yanked him back toward the house. "InuYasha, how could you act so foolishly?" she snapped.

"But mommy," he whined.

"No buts, young man, er, demon. Lets' clean you up and then you can go help him fix that fence."

"Aw, man." He muttered.

Their neighbor watched them leave, shaking his head in bewilderment. "I have to admit, that kid never fails to surprise me." He said. He turned and started back to corralling his herd.


	9. InuYasha and The Bath

InuYasha and The Bath

InuYasha and The Bath

Izayoi shoved InuYasha toward the wooden tub of water behind their house. "No! No! No!" He yelled, digging his feet into the ground. "I don't wanna!"

"Get in! You're covered in mud and you're covering _me_ in mud with you!" she said as she pushed him closer. For a little guy, he was getting stronger. With a burst of strength, she lifted him up and dropped him into the cold water. He flew out of it, screaming and mud flying off of him in big globs. "No! No! No! No!" he yelled. He took off toward the village and Izayoi tore after him. She reached him just as he reached the border of the village and managed to grab him before too many people saw him. Struggling with her squirming son, she trudged back to the tub and tossed him in, holding him down with one hand and scrubbing his hair with the other. He splashed, thrashed and screamed the entire time, soaking Izayoi as well as getting clean with his own struggles. Finally, she sighed heavily and fell back, expecting him to fly out of the water as though scalded and take off toward the village again. But to her surprise, he stayed in the tub, laughing and playing with the bubbles from the sheep tallow soap. Izayoi sat up. "InuYasha, what are you doing? You're clean, you can get out." She said, out of breath. He looked at her and blinked. "Aw, do I hafta?" he whined.

Izayoi groaned in frustration. She stood up. "Just stay in there." She grumbled. "Now I need a bath."

With that, she stomped off into the woods to find a stream. InuYasha shook his head. "Poor mommy. She's so fizzled."

With that, he sank beneath the water and proceeded to blow bubbles toward the surface.

A/N: He means frazzled, but being a little kid, he doesn't know how to pronounce it correctly.


	10. InuYasha and His Friend

A/N: Okay, the original story-story got lost, so since this thing is episodic, I'll just write separate chapters as they come to me. This one is for Daeth101-Fox Version because she gave me the much needed idea.

Izayoi was just finishing up slicing the radishes. So far, the day had gone smoothly with only one purple bruise to her precocious son's knee. Other mothers would consider this nerve wracking when taking into account how he cried for over an hour and a half. But when Izayoi compared it to other days, she felt blessed to have such a peaceful event now and again. Surely it couldn't last.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommymommymommymommy!"

Izayoi sighed and carefully placed the sharp knife into the wash bin and out of their sights. She turned as InuYasha's little head appeared in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear. He was clearly hiding something behind his back.

"Mommy!" he exclaimed.

"I heard you dear, what is it?" Izayoi asked, somewhat afraid of the answer. InuYasha stepped in a little further, still clutching something behind his back. Izayoi peered around his suspiciously, only to have him turn whatever it was out of her sight.

"InuYasha, what did you bring home?" she asked carefully. InuYasha shuffled his feet.

"Well, a nice kitty followed me home. I wanted to know if I could keep it." he said. Izayoi sighed in relief. She'd expected something much worse.

"A kitty followed you home? Well, I suppose a little pet wouldn't hurt. May I see it?" she asked.

InuYasha beamed and bounced on his toes in excitement. "Yay! Thanks, mommy!"

He turned to the door. Izayoi frowned. He hadn't been hiding anything behind his back, he'd just been standing in front of whatever it was. Her smile faded, however when he dragged in a large cloth bag with something flailing around inside it.

"Uh, InuYasha-" she began. InuYasha seized the flaps of the bag, however and yanked them open. Izayoi only had time to see black striped with white before a horrible stench filled the room.

"His name is Miki!" InuYasha declared, holding the skunk up by his tail.

Izayoi wanted to cry.


	11. InuYasha and The New Moon

A/N: Again, thanks Death101-Fox Version! You rule!!! She came up with this idea and gets full credit for the chapter. It's thanks to her that this story has gotten going again.

Night had fallen. Izayoi, warm beneath the blanket, found herself unable to sleep, her mind crowded with thoughts of the past and her cloudy future with her rambunctious son. She loved him dearly, but now and again, his demonic sides would show in innocent little gestures, such as accidentally ripping the door out of its frame that morning. Something as simple as eating became a hassle when he gripped the chopsticks too hard and they splintered in his tiny little fists. Soon, he'd have to learn to control his own strength.

She turned on her side and stared at the black sky. There was no moon tonight. Before, Sesshomaru often warned them of the new moon. He said it was dangerous for InuYasha. But nothing had happened so far, so why should they worry? She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Mommy!!"

Izayoi bolted up, gasping. InuYasha was screaming. She leapt to her feet and hurried into the next room, kneeling beside his pallet. He was bunched up beneath the blanket, shaking and whimpering.

"Mommy!" he yelled again. Izayoi gathered him up, blanket and all into her arms, stroking his head gently.

"It's all right, InuYasha, I'm right here. What's wrong?" she whispered. Through an opening in the blanket, his little face appeared, golden eyes wide with fear as he stared out at her.

"Mommy, my claws!" he exclaimed.

"What about your claws?" Izayoi asked. "Did you catch one on your blanket and break it?"

He shook his head, murmuring. "No." he mumbled. Izayoi put him down and reached up to pull the blanket down from his head.

"All right, dear, tell mommy what's...."

Izayoi trailed off when she saw him. Her lower lip trembled and her hand reached shakily up to his head. His hair was jet black, just like hers. But that wasn't the worst part. His ears were gone; no, more like they weren't his ears anymore. Underneath his hair, she could see human ears like on a normal little boy. His hands were normal, too. His claws were gone, replaced by blunt human nails. His tiny little mouth quivered.

"Mommy, where are my claws?" he babbled. "Where'd they go?"

Izayoi could only shake her head. It couldn't be true. Could it? InuYasha was a demon, right? Albeit a half demon, but a demon nonetheless. So why now would he suddenly turn human? On previous new moons, InuYasha often complained of fatigue and occasionally developed fevers. She'd always kept him indoors then while she sought out Sesshomaru, who often hovered nearby during these times. She knew he was there now, somewhere in the area. She gathered her sniffling, frightened son up and got to her feet, going to the window and gazing outwards.

"Sesshomaru!" she called anxiously. "Are you there? Please, answer me! Sesshomaru!"

She heard a dull thud to her right and turned as a shadowy figure approached from the darkness, gliding up to the window and jumping inside with minimal effort. Izayoi hugged her son tighter as Sesshomaru straightened up, staring at them intently. He took one look at his brother and sighed.

"It's about time." he said.

"Big brother?" InuYasha mumbled. "What's happening to me?"

To Izayoi's shock, Sesshomaru reached out a single clawed hand to her son's head. She flinched defensively out of habit, wary of everyone thanks to her cruel treatment by the village because of InuYasha. But Sesshomaru just placed his hand upon InuYasha's head, noting the absence of the little dog ears.

"Give him to me." Sesshomaru muttered. Izayoi hesitated, but InuYasha settled the matter when he reached out toward Sesshomaru. Izayoi relinquished him reluctantly and Sesshomaru held InuYasha surprisingly carefully. InuYasha laid his head against his brother's chest and stared into the darkness nervously as Sesshomaru stroked his head gently, slowly. Izayoi felt her heart hammering. She knew that Sesshomaru was a powerful enough demon to kill InuYasha and she remembered Sesshomaru's promise to make InuYasha hate him someday. Surely that promise wouldn't take effect so suddenly, she thought.

"He must calm down." Sesshomaru said quietly.

"What's happening to him?" Izayoi pleaded. Sesshomaru fixed her with a gaze so serious, Izayoi felt that he was looking right through her.

"Do you remember the phase of tonight's moon?" he asked.

"Yes. It's a new moon." Izayoi said.

"InuYasha is fine. He's simply become human." Sesshomaru explained. InuYasha glanced up at Sesshomaru curiously.

"I'm human?" he asked.

"Only for tonight." Sesshomaru replied. He returned his gaze to Izayoi. "He will become human every night of the new moon for the rest of his life. It's his drawback to being a half demon."

"Does this happen to all half demons?" Izayoi asked as Sesshomaru handed InuYasha back to her. InuYasha snuggled against his mom and closed his eyes contentedly.

"No," Sesshomaru answered. "Not all. It depends on the individual. For InuYasha, his safety is vital on the new moon, for full demons will sense his weakness and seek to kill him. Do you understand now why I stand guard on this night of each month?"

Izayoi stared down at the floor. "Yes." she said. "And I thank you for it."

Sesshomaru just nodded once and turned to the window. "I'll remain until the morning. Upon the sun's rise, he'll resume his demonic form and I shall take my leave."

And with that, he disappeared out the window and the faint thump above her told Izayoi that he'd gone to rest on the roof, just as her beloved had always done in the days of old. Izayoi sighed and hugged InuYasha. Then, she knelt down and gently placed him back on his pallet, covering him with his blanket. He was already sound asleep again. Izayoi proceeded to sit beside him for the rest of the night, worrying about his future, but glad to have him with her.


End file.
